§ 160A-298. Railroad crossings.
§ 160A‑298. Railroad crossings.
(a) A city shall have authority to direct, control, and prohibitthe laying of railroad tracks and switches in public streets and alleys and torequire that all railroad tracks, crossings, and bridges be constructed so as notto interfere with drainage patterns or with the ordinary travel and use of thepublic streets and alleys.
(b) The costs of constructing, reconstructing, and improvingpublic streets and alleys, including the widening thereof, within areas coveredby railroad cross ties, including cross timbers, shall be borne equally by thecity and the railroad company. The costs of maintaining and repairing suchareas after construction shall be borne by the railroad company.
(c) A city shall have authority to require the installation,construction, erection, reconstruction, and improvement of warning signs,gates, lights, and other safety devices at grade crossings, and the city shallbear ninety percent (90%) of the costs thereof and the railroad company shallbear ten percent (10%) of the costs. The costs of maintaining warning signs,gates, lights, and other safety devices installed after January 1, 1972, shallbe borne equally by the city and the railroad company. The maintenance shall beperformed by the railroad company and the city shall pay annually to therailroad company fifty percent (50%) of these costs. In maintaining maintenancecost records and determining such costs, the city and the railroad companyshall use the same methods and procedures as are now or may hereafter be usedby the Board of Transportation.
(d) A city shall have authority to require that a grade crossingbe eliminated and replaced by a railroad bridge or by a railroad underpass, ifthe council finds as a fact that the grade crossing constitutes an unreasonablehazard to vehicular or pedestrian traffic. In such event, the city shall bearninety percent (90%) of the costs and the railroad company shall bear tenpercent (10%) of the costs. If the city constructs a new street which requires agrade separation and which does not replace an existing street, the city shallbear all of the costs. If a railroad company constructs a new track across atgrade, or under, or over an existing street, the railroad company shall pay theentire cost thereof. The city shall pay the costs of maintaining street bridgeswhich cross over railroads. Railroad companies shall pay the cost ofmaintaining railroad bridges over streets, except that cities shall pay thecosts of maintaining street pavement, sidewalks, street drainage, and streetlighting where streets cross under railroads.
(e) Whenever the widening, improving, or other changes in astreet require that a railroad bridge be relocated, enlarged, heightened, orotherwise reconstructed, the city shall bear ninety percent (90%) of the costsand the railroad company shall bear ten percent (10%) of the costs.
(f) It is the intent of this section to make uniform the lawconcerning the construction and maintenance of railroad crossings, bridges,underpasses, and warning devices within cities. To this end, all general lawsand local acts in conflict with this section are repealed, and no local acttaking effect on or after January 1, 1972, shall be construed to modify, amend,or repeal any portion of this section unless it specifically so provides byexpress reference to this section. (1917, c. 136, subch. 5, s. 1; 1919, cc. 136, 237; C.S., s. 2787; 1971,c. 698, s. 1; 1973, c. 507, s. 5.)